1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to grass/lawn mower vehicles for cutting grass or lawn. More particularly, the invention relates to a grass/lawn mower vehicle having a mower unit attached to a vehicle body, and a grass catcher for collecting grass or lawn cut by the mower unit and transmitted through a duct.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, this type of grass/lawn mower vehicle has a grass catcher of well-known construction defining an opening in a front surface thereof opposed to the duct for receiving grass clippings transmitted through the duct and for discharging the grass clippings from the grass catcher. When the grass catcher collects and stores grass clippings; the opening is closed by a lid having an upper end thereof supported by an upper edge of the opening. The lid is pivotable about a transverse axis to open the opening. An end of the duct is inserted into a grass clippings inlet of the lid in a closed position. The grass catcher is connected in an upper front position thereof, to be pivotable about a transverse axis, to a frame fixed to the vehicle body. An actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder is provided for raising the rear end of the grass catcher, whereby the grass catcher pivots about the transverse axis. Thus, only the main body of the grass catcher is raised, leaving the lid in a suspended posture, to expose the opening for discharging grass clippings from the grass catcher to the ground.
With the conventional grass/lawn mower vehicle having the above construction, the grass catcher is raised only through a pivotal movement about the transverse axis to expose the opening. Consequently, the grass catcher assumes a relatively low discharge posture to discharge grass clippings. Where, for example, grass clippings are discharged to a trailer or the like, instead of being discharged simply to the ground, the grass catcher must be raised to a higher position above the ground to expose the opening. With the conventional grass/lawn mower vehicle allowing the grass catcher only a low posture for discharging grass clippings, it is difficult to discharge grass clippings from an elevated position. A mower vehicle is known, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,007, in which a complicated link mechanism is employed to pull the duct rearward out of the lid of the grass catcher, then to move the grass catcher upward, and thereafter to raise the rear end of the grass catcher to expose the opening. Such a mower vehicle has a disadvantage of high manufacturing and maintenance costs because of the complicated link structure.